Mark Edward Harris, Documenting The World With Photos and Beautiful Books

Join host Paris Chong as she kicks off season three with acclaimed photographer Mark Edward Harris, discussing his experiences capturing everything from the Winter Olympics to Japanese bathhouse culture.

Watch the Video

Listen + Watch on

Paris Chong welcomes acclaimed travel and documentary photographer Mark Edward Harris to discuss his extensive career and global adventures. With a background rooted in documentary history, Mark shares his journey from starting out with stills for The Merv Griffin Show to photographing in over 100 countries across all seven continents. The conversation highlights his acclaimed work, particularly his artistic book The Way of the Japanese Bath, and his deep-seated passion for capturing stories that matter, including his experiences documenting the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.

The discussion delves deep into Mark’s philosophy as a photographer, emphasizing the importance of investing time in a location to create humanistic photo essays rather than "parachuting in" for quick, superficial shots. Mark reflects on his long-term projects in challenging environments like North Korea and his work with orangutan rescue foundations, underscoring the value of persistence, preparation, and building genuine connections with subjects. He explains how his drive to tell a story through images—whether it’s the cultural nuance of Japanese baths or the stark realities of war—has shaped his identity as a storyteller and visual artist.

Beyond the technical side of photography, the episode offers a warm and candid look at Mark’s life and outlook. He shares personal anecdotes about his love for travel, his deep connection to Japan, and his advice for aspiring photographers to be proactive rather than waiting for opportunities to come to them. Paris and Mark discuss the balance of work and personal life, the changing landscape of the industry, and the power of photography to unite and inform. It is a thoughtful conversation that inspires creators to pursue depth in their work and to keep moving forward in their own artistic journeys.

‍

Episode Timestamps

00:00 Season Three Kickoff
00:40 Meet Mark Edward Harris
02:00 World Cup Ticket Chaos
03:33 Japanese Bath Book Reveal
04:53 Bathing Rituals Explained
07:18 Publishing and Photo Awards
16:02 North Korea Stories
25:31 Leica Olympics Show
26:29 Tokyo Win and COVID
27:11 Naked Hollywood Project
27:52 Let History Breathe
28:58 Phil Penman - Small World
31:15 Olympics Lessons and Access
37:58 Orangutans Books and Farewell

Links to Mark Edward Harris

Mark Edward Harris' Website
Mark's Instagram
Mark's Linkedin
Hot Mirror Interview - Link
LACP Profile - Link

🎵 Music by Andrew Raiher

📸 Shot & Edited at Visible Audio Studios

‍

Intro Song: It's the Paris Young Show. It's the Paris Young Show, Show, Show. It's the Paris Young Show

Paris Chong: Hello, everybody. Uh, thank you for tuning in again to The Paris Chong Show. I'm here with a very amazing photographer and friend, and my sidekick, my li- I like to call him my little Ed McMahon, Disco. Uh, today we have Mark Edward Harris. Welcome, Mark.

Mark Edward Harris: Thank you, Paris.

Paris Chong: You are actually the first ch- um, guest of season three.

We made it to season three.

Mark Edward Harris: Which I very much appreciate.

Paris Chong: And we're gonna be a lot in color, so I'm gonna talk... I have a little cheat sheet here, so- Sure ... it's supposed to be unscripted, but I'm gonna cheat a little today- Okay ... um, and tell people about you. And, uh, you got a degree in documentary history. You started- Yeah, my

Mark Edward Harris: master's.

Paris Chong: Yeah, master's. Yeah, yeah. And you started your pr- uh, professional photo career working for the, doing stills for The Merv Griffin Show- That's true ... which I actually didn't know. But- Yeah ... then we'll talk a little bit about that. So, and a lot of, uh, television sh- and movie companies. And once the show ended, you went around the Pacific and throughout the So- uh, throughout Southeast A- Southeast Asia, China, and Japan.

You visited all seven, uh, c- uh, continents and photo- and have photographed in more than 100 countries, which is insane. Yeah. Your work can be seen in Vanity Fair, Lifetime, Newsweek, National Geographic, Traveler, Forbes, Vogue, and The New- New York Times and the LA Times- Yeah ... um, to name a few. You've won a Clio and an Ace Award.

And you did a show with us at Leica last year, which, uh, you brought a piece from that, The Way of the Japanese Bath, is, which is one of the most beautiful made books I've ever seen in my life. It's actually a piece of artwork itself. And you just got back from traveling, so I'm... And- and you also just got done shooting the Winter Olympics.

Mark Edward Harris: That's true. Yeah. And also, uh, and then thank you so much. I guess that ends the show. I'm done. I appreciate it. Thank you for listening. It was great being here. Um, and- and World Cup is- is just happening now. Yeah. But time- And that's why, and

Paris Chong: you almost weren't gonna make it here on time 'cause you had to wait for your seat.

Mark Edward Harris: And it was the first time picking tickets, and so-

Paris Chong: What, how does that work? I, so your, the World Cup's here in Los Angeles this weekend, which is incredible.

Mark Edward Harris: Right. Well, it's gonna be, uh, there's a lot of- Everywhere ... uh, matches here. But just- But it's all over, but I'm covering all of the matches in LA. And, uh, but it's not easy to figure out for the first time how to pick- Yeah

tickets. And so fortunately- That's a

Paris Chong: big deal ...

Mark Edward Harris: I lost, I got out of the queue accidentally, got back in, and so maybe the gods of scheduling, you know, put me in the right seat after all. 'Cause I was thinking if I got on first, I could get closer to the very corner.

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm.

Mark Edward Harris: But now I'm somewhere else. And so you never know.

O- one door closes, another opens, which is my- It might, it

Paris Chong: might work out better at SoFi, right?

Mark Edward Harris: Exactly. Well, we can't call it that evidently, for- What? They're, they're calling it the Los Angeles, uh, not Los Angeles Arena, Los Angeles something or other.

Paris Chong: Why is that?

Mark Edward Harris: I, there probably was some deal between FIFA and- and SoFi that didn't- Okay

didn't work, and so they're calling it Los Angeles Arena, Los Angeles Stadium, Los Angeles something. Huh. But just not with that label.

Paris Chong: Just not calling it what it's-

Mark Edward Harris: SoFi ...

Paris Chong: called.

Mark Edward Harris: E- that's right. Exactly. Exactly. Just

Paris Chong: not calling it its official- Yeah ... name. All right. Well, everyone's doing all kinds of weird things nowadays, so that just- Oh, that's for sure

fits right in. So you must be so excited.

Mark Edward Harris: I'm thrilled about that. I'm also, you know, gearing up to try to spend a lot more time in Japan, which is, you know, as you know, a place I love so much. And thank you for the incredible show last year. Your

Paris Chong: show was amazing. So

beautiful.

Mark Edward Harris: Thank you. Thank you. And, uh, yeah, the new book.

Can- w- we'll just plug it right here.

Paris Chong: Yeah, let's do

Mark Edward Harris: it. Show it to everybody. There we go.

Paris Chong: It's a beautiful-

Mark Edward Harris: This is,

Paris Chong: this is the first- But no, open it up. So let's ... And look, look- Well- The, the way you did this book- I'll hand it to

Mark Edward Harris: you ...

Paris Chong: this is such a beautiful book. And it's, it's like I said, it's an art piece itself, and it almost has these, like, um, faux ivory-

Mark Edward Harris: Right.

It, it wouldn't be ivory, for sure. That's-

Paris Chong: Yeah ...

Mark Edward Harris: that wouldn't be

Paris Chong: me. But it made- But, but, but right ... it's made to look that way. They're like bone clips. And there's these beautiful ... The, just the way it opens up, and there's just all this beautiful artwork in this book. I, I mean, it is really one of the, the most beautiful books we sell at Leica.

Thank you. And whenever somebody's looking for a gift, like, "Oh, I'm looking for a gift," I'm like, "Oh, this is it." And they always buy it.

Mark Edward Harris: Thank you. And, and the, uh, the end pages are ukiyo-e- Wow ... which are Japanese woodblock prints. Uh, which it's interesting that photography- It's kind of, kind of intriguing ... in a way was the demise for that type of artwork.

Intro Song: Oh,

Mark Edward Harris: really? You know? Yeah. Because what happened- I didn't know that ... is Felisberto- I mean, it's just so beautiful ... and other photographers came into Japan in the 1850s, and photography was the rage. And so people wanted to collect photos and get photos instead of ... Now, there still are what, what's called hanga and shin hanga woodblock prints, but, but they're-

Paris Chong: You're talking about this, this-

Mark Edward Harris: The end pages, exactly.

Yeah. But also for anybody- So

Paris Chong: gorgeous ...

Mark Edward Harris: that interested in doing a book, I always say, "Don't waste those end pages." So I-

Paris Chong: I

Mark Edward Harris: know, right? ... always use those pages to do something. That's

Paris Chong: smart. Now, The Way of the Japanese Bath, there was a photo of you, uh, uh, that you took of you in- Yeah ... in the Japanese v- baths with, uh, your model.

Yeah. Now, I, I, I ... If some people haven't been to a Japanese bath- Yeah ... it's a whole ceremonial thing. It, like, like we have a lot of Korean baths in Los Angeles. That's right. We don't have a lot of Japanese baths. Yeah. So what's, what's, like, the most, um, what can you share with us about your knowledge of Japanese bath taking?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, the key is it's, it's really more f- for, for mental relaxation and, and physical relaxation than for bathing. Mm-hmm. In other words, you, you don't go in there to get physically clean, you go there to get mentally clean.

Paris Chong: Interesting.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. And I mean, but in a way the, the Korean baths here are, I mean, the same thing.

And in Korea there's the, the bathing culture too- Yeah ... but it's so refined in, in, in- I

Paris Chong: think you ... I always feel- ... in Japan ... extra clean when I get out of there, but I don't know how- Yeah ... relaxed I feel with the, everybody being so very naked 'cause, um, it's very ... You cannot be shy in there

Mark Edward Harris: at all. No, but you could use, in Japan you use

So it's a very sim- Uh, you go to a, a, a ryokan, which is a Japanese style inn, and then you, um, you wash first before going in, 'cause you have to go in cl- with your body being clean. Then you have a tenugui, which is a, a small towel.

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, and so you have to make a decision about what part- The smallest towel

of your body-

Paris Chong: And the ... No. It's this ... That's what I'm saying. They give you a towel that's

Mark Edward Harris: like- It's a tenugui. Yeah ...

Paris Chong: it's like a washcloth.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. It is. Little bit longer, and so then you have- Yeah ... to decide what part of your body do you, you want to feel modest about. I always know which body,

Paris Chong: which, which, what I'm covering

Mark Edward Harris: up.

I- Yeah. You just, you gotta figure, you know what? The rear end is for all to see. Yeah. And so for a guy it's easier. You, there's one simple choice. For women they have to make two, but usually the towel's just long enough, because it is long-

Paris Chong: Yeah ...

Mark Edward Harris: to cover both. And, and, um, in Japan there are what's called konyoku, which mixed bathing.

Mm-hmm. So men and women together, but most baths, most ryokans, Japanese style inns, uh, have separate- Separated ... men and women. That, that's what I

Paris Chong: prefer ...

Mark Edward Harris: but there are places that are, w- Mm-hmm ... as, as a konyoku, which is mixed bathing.

Paris Chong: And they're okay with you inside there doing photography?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, most of the time what we do is, is we call in advance and say what we're doing.

Mm-hmm. And then, uh, they said, "Okay. We're, we're cleaning from 10:00 to 11:00, so at 10:05 come on down and you can have it till 10:30."

Paris Chong: Wow. So they're very open about you going in and taking photography.

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, I would never sneak it. I mean, there's all sorts of signs, you know, for no photos. So they're open

Paris Chong: about it.

I like that. That's so nice.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, especially because this book, uh, which is now in its fourth edition-

Paris Chong: It's so

Mark Edward Harris: beautiful ... it's, it, it's fortunately very well known. There's 6,000 copies out and- Who,

Paris Chong: who did this?

Mark Edward Harris: I, I created my own publishing company.

Paris Chong: Oh. Oh, yeah. 'Cause you used to have the magazine, right?

Mark Edward Harris: No, no.

Always, always book, uh- It was always books? ... publishing. Oh, yeah. What was ... Okay. It says Shashin Press. Shashin Press. Oh. Shashin means photograph.

Paris Chong: How long have you had that?

Mark Edward Harris: Since 2003 was the first book. And so my, my first book was Abbeville Press.

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, then I did two books with Chronicle Books and with Kelly Wearstler, interior designer.

Paris Chong: Okay.

Mark Edward Harris: I participated in doing some. So I really got to learn how books are published. Why did I think you did-

Paris Chong: And then I decided to start doing my own ... a magazine? I think 'cause I've seen so much of your work in magazines. I get, I'm

Mark Edward Harris: in a lot of magazines.

Paris Chong: A lot of writing, right?

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Now, I met you during my Formani Gallery days, didn't I?

Mark Edward Harris: Yes.

Paris Chong: I c- I was s- it's, I, all the years, you know how it goes. It, they all blend into one. You just, I can't remember. But I remember when I'd see you at, like, I'm like, "I know that guy." Yeah. But you used to come to Far- Hossein's gallery- It's true ... when I was gallery director there. It's true. And that was in, I wanna say 2004.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, I had a great exhibition with Hossein in, uh, Brooklyn. We did a, uh- Yeah, so

Paris Chong: that was after- ...

Mark Edward Harris: Iran- ... my

Paris Chong: time

Mark Edward Harris: with him ... and North Korea, or did we just do Iran?

Paris Chong: And you've won a lot of international photography awards.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah, I won Book of the Year through- I

Paris Chong: know. You should w- Yeah ... you should have.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. And then because of, with the North Korea book, with the second North Korea book, and because of that, then I got, uh, the Turkey advertising campaign, and there were four photographers, Steve McCurry, and then two other photographers, which I would name if I remembered- Yeah

and myself. And so, you know, enter, I, I'm not a big award enterer, if that's such a thing to say, but I, I do think they're extremely helpful if you pick carefully. I do, too,

Paris Chong: especially for young photographers starting out. 100%. Wouldn't you recommend? 'Cause I jury for a lot of photo competitions- Yeah ... right now, and I think it's such a great way to get your name out there- You gotta get your name-

and your work out. Yeah. And your, and your work seen even more so 'cause a lot of times when you jury, they don't tell you the person's name. Uh- Uh-huh ... sometimes they do, but not, most times they don't. Yeah. And you just start seeing the same, the s- certain images that are really amazing over and over again, and then that makes you become familiar with artists.

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And then it's, you know, you keep building up on that. Uh, the Sony Awards I won, uh, for the orangutan book, for this other-

Paris Chong: I love the orangutan

Mark Edward Harris: book ... book, or the, the photos, not the book. The book actually then won IPA award for, um- W- nature photography book of the year w- Mm-hmm ... when this came out a couple of years ago.

Paris Chong: wait, so now you're f- you're- So ... you o- you started your own press. Is that like- Yeah ... a tedious thing to do? Was that easy to do?

Mark Edward Harris: No, I, I, well, because I have an, a, Scott Rivera's my, uh, designer, and so the, the thing is you put a, a really good team together. Uh, and then we, we publish it, or we print it rather, overseas, and so the orangutan book we did in Korea.

Uh, in China, we did the, um, all four editions of The Way of the Japanese Bath. It's just much more cost-effective.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: And, uh, but it, the key is having a, a great designer. Photographers, u- unless you're like William Klein who, or Ralph Gibson-

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm ...

Mark Edward Harris: uh, that just have such a great eye for ... I, I mean, I work very closely w- with, with my designers.

Uh, for the North Korea book, uh, Nicole Wang did, did the design for that, and, but, but they really know how to use type. Uh, photographers typically are way too horsey with type, and so you have horsey and mousy, right? Mm-hmm. Mousy is, is you go super small. Designers sometimes like to go really small with type.

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, too small a little bit, but they know the right fonts to pick. Scott is amazing. I mean, it's ... And so I would recommend to photographers- D- ... don't design your own book. Yeah. And of course now you have Blurb, and so people can do these one-off books. Uh, that's not the way I do. I, I sometimes use Blurb actually to do my own, like, mock-ups just to get a feeling because then you can get all the mistakes out of the way.

You, you do it, and then you, you put it out. That's little Ed McMahon right here, right? Yeah. He's just like, "Hi." Little Ed

Paris Chong: McMahon's trying to

Mark Edward Harris: get in on the action. Come up here while. Yeah.

Intro Song: And

Mark Edward Harris: I'm

Intro Song: like, "Where is he in the jump?" Hey, come up

Paris Chong: here. And I feel bad 'cause he's gonna get hair all over your nice clean black shirt.

That's, it doesn't matter. It doesn't. I love dog lovers. Yeah. As, quickly going off topic for just- Yeah ... one second, I wanna send a shout-out to Apples and Brando, who just went to heaven in the last two weeks. I've had, uh, so many friends that are losing their animals. I just wouldn't know what to do. Yeah.

And we ta- and you're so kind to my dog, and it matters to me. I'm scared of people that don't like animals. You should be. I, I think you need a dog. I really do. Well,

Mark Edward Harris: I travel too much.

Paris Chong: I know, but you could travel with them. Now, they're not, they're friendlier now about d- traveling, but

Mark Edward Harris: I

Paris Chong: know-

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, not the way I d- I mean, I wouldn't wanna bring a t- you know, I've been in Ukraine four times during the war.

I wouldn't wanna bring a d- Yeah. So where- I mean, I, I go in rescuing animals to get them out.

Paris Chong: I know. That's good. Yeah. That

Mark Edward Harris: makes me really love you even more. It's just not possible. Or going to

Paris Chong: B- you know, Borneo.

Mark Edward Harris: Who's we? It depends on, on, on, on, on what I'm doing. In other words, like if they're, it's a rescue group-

Paris Chong: Yeah

Mark Edward Harris: that I go in with, you know? Or, like in other words, different places I go with different people. Well- You know, it just depends ...

Paris Chong: now are you, um, you're single?

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Do-

Mark Edward Harris: I was married before you met Mika, I think. Yeah, I,

Paris Chong: yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: You're, you're Japanese wife. Who, who's still my love of my life forever. Is

Paris Chong: she?

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, yeah.

Paris Chong: She is. Aw. How-

Mark Edward Harris: No, no, but we're super close. Every time I do a workshop in Japan she does a tea ceremony for us. But 20 years ago she had a, um, an amazing job offer to be, uh, senior VP for TV Tokyo-

Paris Chong: Oh ...

Mark Edward Harris: for acquisitions. She brought Sesame Street to Japan. She amazing person. So we're still super close, but we live too many years apart, so.

Paris Chong: Yeah. Uh, it's hard to- Yeah ... stay married sometimes when you're a photographer, don't you think? I've noticed that, like, uh, unless you're those kind of, of the husband wife team, like the LaFonts and Francoise Kir- Oh ... and Douglas Kirkland, that they're a team. Francoise

Mark Edward Harris: is, is just amazing.

Paris Chong: Yeah. And JP and- Yeah

Eliane Lafont. But a lot of times there's so much traveling involved, I think it's-

Mark Edward Harris: Well, Mika didn't- ...

Paris Chong: hard ...

Mark Edward Harris: mind at all, as long as- Yeah ... the rent was paid. But, but, uh-

Paris Chong: As long as the rent

Mark Edward Harris: was paid. Yeah. She, she had certain goals- Yeah ... where she, um, you know, "Let's get a house, let's do this, let's do that," and I was always thinking about the next trip.

And so, um, this amazing job in Japan gave her the ability to buy a house for herself and stuff.

Paris Chong: Are, are you one of those guys that has Asian fever, that only likes Asian women? I will never

Mark Edward Harris: admit to that.

Paris Chong: No. Wait, what's that?

Mark Edward Harris: I will never admit to that. You'll never admit to that? And if I did catch it, I wouldn't want to be cured

Paris Chong: You know, 'cause I'm half Chinese, so I have, um- Yeah

met guys that are that way. Yeah. But, um, I, I don't, I don't think I look super Asian, but I know there- Yeah ... there's tho- there's men out there that will only date certain types of people.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Or, and women, women.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, I, I like to stick to dating just women, but I think people should date whoever they want.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: You know, as long as they're of age, which some people in government don't seem to care about.

Paris Chong: Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Now, I was just reading an article recently about how now women are going out with younger men, but you know, it's hard when you have a, a... when you're a parent. I just couldn't... It's, it's...

I don't think you should try to go too young. I think it's a bad look. But not judging, you know? But, hey.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, what, what's, what's your age differential? In

Paris Chong: other words, like, what's, what, what's the young- I mean, I wouldn't mind... I would date someone 10 years younger than me. So there you go. But not, like, thir- you know, like, 20.

I don't know, not, basically not my son's age.

Mark Edward Harris: Right. But you're- So. But you're-

Paris Chong: And my son's 22. There's just no way in hell. But you're like Dorian Gray. He would torture the poor guy.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. You're like Dorian Gray. Yeah. The female version of Dorian Gray. You never get older.

Paris Chong: I love that, and check's in the mail.

Thank you. And I didn't pay him to say that. So you know what? I'm A- that's the thing about Asian women, Asian people in gen- Yeah ... it's like, we actually age slower, I guess. I don't know what it is, because I have to admit, I know this sound... I don't wanna sound conceited, but I have friends. We're all the same age, but definitely the, you know, light-skinned l- friends are aging a little bit quicker than the Asian- Yeah

or the my

Mark Edward Harris: Black girlfriends. I mean, there's also about staying out in the sun and all this sort of stuff.

Paris Chong: I don't know about that, 'cause I'm always in the sun. And, and staying in shape. I'm Hawaiian- Yeah ... so I always am in the sun.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: You're out in the sun a lot, too, though. You're-

Mark Edward Harris: Well, but I, I've had wrinkles.

It is very strange, because my, my father who made it to 93, and my mom who's actually still around at 94-

Paris Chong: So you're gonna

Mark Edward Harris: live a long life ... have no wrinkles at all. And it, but I have wrinkles. I've had wr- I, I was five years old and I had wrinkles under my eyes. So, so it, there's something going on wrong with me.

But you're a handsome guy. Wrinkles are okay.

Paris Chong: My-

Mark Edward Harris: I appreciate you saying that ...

Paris Chong: yes, my mother died young unfortunately, and she had not a wrinkle on her face.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: It's just, it's-

Mark Edward Harris: Who, who knows? But-

Paris Chong: It's a skin thing. It's okay. You look amazing.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, I appreciate

Paris Chong: that. So you're, so you're sin- he's single, ladies.

Mark Edward Harris: Thank you.

Paris Chong: And, um, or gents. I'm just kidding. No, no, no,

Mark Edward Harris: that's what I said.

Paris Chong: I'm just kidding. I'm wearing my pride pants 'cause we just finished Pride. No, that's great. But I don't care what anybody does. Well, I, I really do. B-

Mark Edward Harris: people should do whatever they wanna do- That's

Paris Chong: right ... as long as they don't hurt

Mark Edward Harris: anybody

Paris Chong: and they do now. Don't you think the new generation of kids are just, they're all over the place? They're fluid and, you know, no one's... I don't... It's very strange

Mark Edward Harris: times to me. Well, I, I think there's a little bit too much pressure on young people to- Yeah ... to, to think about that stuff. I think it should be a natural evolution.

I think it's too much out in the, in the, um, world. Just people should be what they wanna be and what they feel like.

Paris Chong: Yeah. That's

Mark Edward Harris: right. I, I don't think kids should be, um-

Paris Chong: Happy. I just think

Mark Edward Harris: any- Anything. They should just be kids I don't, that's how I

Paris Chong: think everybody should be happy Do, do what you wanna do.

Whatever it is- Yeah ... that makes you happy, that's what you should be.

Mark Edward Harris: I agree

Paris Chong: 100%. Now, you spent time in Korea. This is a picture from your Korea

Mark Edward Harris: book. So this is North Korea. North Korea. And I've been to North Korea 10 times, uh, Iran twice, and so I have a book with Chronicle Books from, on Iran as well.

Nice. And of course, we have the insanity that's going on in Iran now, or with Iran, I should say. Um, at North Korea... I mean, the, the axis of evil speech, uh, that, uh, President Bush gave was, uh, so misguided, I think. It's not to say that there's, there's plenty of real issues with North Korea- Mm-hmm ... and Iran- Yeah

and Iraq at, at, at that time. But, but, um, when, when you just say, "Okay, they're bad. We're good," y- you start to, to, to, to open up the possibility of like, "Oh, it's okay for us to go in and do this and that." And, and so war really should be a last resort. And I've seen in Ukraine, as I've g- you know, gone in now four times, it's so easy, uh, for a government to start a wars.

It's a lot more difficult to end it, and there's innocent people that always get killed. It's awful. That's the thing. It's not like- When were

Paris Chong: you in Ukraine last?

Mark Edward Harris: Last time was December, uh, 2025 until- Oh, recently ... January 2026. Oh, yeah. And, and I went out to Dnipro, and I went with rescue missions, uh, rescue missions wh- when they were, um, in armored vehicles bringing people from the front back,

Paris Chong: uh- Who were, who, what, what, what, what was the name of the rescue mission people?

Mark Edward Harris: That's an excellent question, and I forgot already. So we wanna sh- oh. I'll have to give you, I'll have to give you a thank- And we'd love to give

Paris Chong: you a shout-out

Mark Edward Harris: Thank you ...

Paris Chong: but we'll remember them. We'll, we can plug it at the end.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, do, do we put something underneath and we plug that in at the end? Yeah, we can put it at the, we can

Paris Chong: put that at the end of the show.

Mark Edward Harris: Okay. We'll do that. Thank you,

Paris Chong: Don

Mark Edward Harris: Hong. I'll tell you, you know, 'cause that's like six or probably 10 trips ago, even though it's not that long ago. I mean, I've been in

Paris Chong: J- I,

Mark Edward Harris: I just got back from

Paris Chong: Japan- It's, it's a horrible thing. Yeah, no. And so, so you went to Japan- ... teaching workshops ... Ukraine. Where'd you go last year?

Mark Edward Harris: Boy, it, well, it, it's just- Everywhere ... too many places. I mean-

Paris Chong: Geez ...

Mark Edward Harris: you know, um-

Paris Chong: Do you love to travel? Is that why you do it?

Mark Edward Harris: I love to travel, but, but I like to have focused travel, not aimless travel. Right. I, I found myself a long, long time ago when I was just starting a career that I would just go anywhere, and it was somewhat aimless, and I think I did one too many aimless trips.

And then I started to realize, just like when you get to know photographers like W. Eugene Smith, look how he focused, and then he created these great photo essays- Mm-hmm ... instead of, you know, there's some people who just go out, they take a pretty picture here, a pretty picture there, but they don't really focus on a story and develop depth with the story.

And I think it's very, very important to get depth, and that's why, you know, North Korea 10 times. It's not easy to go there 10 times. And also that I would go into China, and I would go along the North Korean-Chinese border to see what it was like shooting in across the Amok and the, uh, Tumen River. Can't remember the name of the rescue place in, in- I know.

You will- ... Ukraine ... and we're gonna plug it at the- But, but I do remember the name of the rivers that, that, um- Yeah.

Paris Chong: That's okay ...

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. In other words, that's depth. In other words- You can't remember

Paris Chong: everything.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. You, y- y- yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm really usually pretty good. I mean, elephants will come up to me and say, "Hey, do you remember that time at..."

You know, because they've forgotten. I still remember it.

Paris Chong: Yeah, I love

Mark Edward Harris: it when

Paris Chong: elephants talk to me. And they're supposed to have good... Yeah. It's the, it's the best. Yeah. I, they're amazing conversationalists. Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Um, so what's next? Where are you going next?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, the, the real focus right now, right, i- it is just the World Cup and staying focused here.

Then I've got a- Good ... a quick assignment at end of the month that I'm squeezing in between two World Cup games to Door County, Wisconsin f- uh, for a photo travel project. Uh, I've got a destination in the Middle East. It's probably better for me not to say it right now. Don't you get scared-

Paris Chong: In December

traveling to those places? I, I m- I must be a scaredy-cat, 'cause I wouldn't even wanna go there, 'cause I'd be scared. You know, it's a war that... I don't know. I'm, I'm g- I have to go to- Yeah ... Paris for work, and I'm scared to go there. I don't know.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. Well-

Paris Chong: I get scared ...

Mark Edward Harris: it's, it's, um, it's not easy. Yeah. Not, not easy, but um, you know, there's a purpose for it.

Paris Chong: Through your traveling, is that what, how you come up with the ideas for all your books?

Mark Edward Harris: I, I think it's more, uh, the news, what's going on. Is it- Really? ... you know, like the axis of evil speech I found so misguided that it really got me thinking, uh, uh, about, you know, going to North Korea and Iran and Iraq, which I ended up going to all three and doing books on Iran and North Korea.

Not to say, hey, I'm the, you know, greatest expert on any country. But let me just show what it looks like. And what happens is a lot of people just parachute in. They go one time. Yeah. They have something in mind, like, oh, North Korea's bad. Here's this. I don't try to make North Korea look bad. I just try to show what, what I photograph.

The truth. The truth. And, and if you just go into Pyongyang and you shoot some pictures around there, that's not really gonna give a sense of the country. But after 10 trips and going all over the country, you know, the whole country is, i- is not on alert that hey, you know, here's, here's Mark Edward Harris with a camera.

In other words, I am seeing real things. You know, of course, they're trying to take you to monuments. They're saying, "Oh, don't shoot this. Don't shoot that." But you know, the more you get to know the, uh, people taking you around, and it's been, you know, the same people year after year, you become very relaxed and friendly, and you go, you know, out drinking with them.

Yeah. And they, they, they ease up on what you can photograph and not photograph, and then opportunities open up. But if you parachute into a place, and uh, then you're not gonna get that. And s- Have you

Paris Chong: done that?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, not, not literally. Yeah. I mean, I don't, I don't parachute. But, but, but I, I try not to just be one of those photographers that, that, that try to run from one hotspot to another.

And, and that's why I say W. Eugene Smith was really my- Mm ... my hero. So you invest time

Paris Chong: in the place.

Mark Edward Harris: You, you invest a lot of time. And, and, and you come up with humanistic photo essays rather than, okay, here's... I mean, of course, like i- in Ukraine, yeah, I did do focus stories about, you know, rescuing, you know, people there.

But I also did photos that were kind of one-off. Like outside of Kharkiv, there was this Barbie doll that who knows what happened to the, the baby's mom or dad, you know? Mm. Um, but it was just blown apart, just laying there, and so I shot that photo. That's not necessarily a part of any photo essay. So I do one-off-

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm

Mark Edward Harris: shots when I come across something. Um, but I really do look for photo essays. So they, a lot of them come out of travel, but I would say the news is the first part-

Paris Chong: Right ...

Mark Edward Harris: that, that I hear and I say, "Well..." Oh, but the Japanese bath was actually something that I just discovered-

Paris Chong: This is more

Mark Edward Harris: of an art book, right?

in 1991. Yeah. Yeah. So that's a totally different ballgame. It's more of

Paris Chong: a fine art. But what, what photograph do you think defines your work the most out of everything you've done?

Mark Edward Harris: The, the photo- This ... right here.

Paris Chong: This. Okay.

Mark Edward Harris: Because I really had to work for it. B- w- uh, 2000- It's

Paris Chong: the cover of the book

Mark Edward Harris: also

eight. It's the cover of the second book on, on North Korea that I did. Um, and it, it was done when the New York Philharmonic was visiting, uh, Pyongyang in 2008, and I was invited to go. Um, and so... And I kept begging the driver o- of the, that was taking all of us from the hotel. Mm-hmm. And it is very restricted movement.

And, and so they, they wouldn't stop. They said, "Oh, no, no, no. We have to get to the rehearsal hall." So during American in Paris, I figured, okay, that's about 17 minutes long. I could sneak out the back, walk, walk half a mile down to this corner, shoot this photo, and come back without being noticed. And so I, I put the camera under my, you know, uh, heavy jacket, 'cause it was, you know, January.

Mm. So had the heavy jacket. Walk down there, shoot the photo, come back, and then one of the handlers, when I walked in, or, um- They don't like the word handler too much. But I said to me, "Oh, did you have a nice walk?" And so I thought I had gotten away with it completely, but anyway-

Paris Chong: It's a perfect photo, just how the red and white and the ch- you know- Yeah

and the red and white here, and the, just the lines and the coloring's so beaut- she matches the bus. I mean, it's like a perfect photo. It,

Mark Edward Harris: it is amazing.

Paris Chong: It really is. It's

Mark Edward Harris: like- And, and I didn't even look at it- ... perfect ... when I shot it. I, I just very quickly did it. But

Paris Chong: everything is like m- you know?

Mark Edward Harris: It, it worked out.

And I used a little flash fill, you know, on, on her face, but she wasn't too thrilled that I was out there. And I speak much more, or at least for a while I,

Paris Chong: I

Mark Edward Harris: learned Korean.

Paris Chong: At least she gets to wear a very cute outfit. That's pretty cute. I thought they

Mark Edward Harris: look great,

Paris Chong: yeah. Yeah, that's cute. Yeah. That's not how the people f- the, the, the, uh, people dress here, so, you know.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, y- Working ... you know, we need to have people, you know, directing traffic out here more and maybe they could dress up for it. This was like a traffic li- Oh, she's directing

Paris Chong: traffic. So she's like a policewoman?

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah, because

Paris Chong: at that, at that time- So yeah, that's what I... It's like a policewoman would wear-

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah

Paris Chong: like fur on their- Yeah ... we need the American, uh-

Mark Edward Harris: Version

Paris Chong: of that ... traffic women to wear these outfits. Yeah, that's a, it's so, it's a perfect photo, Mark.

Mark Edward Harris: It came out. But, but at th- but at that time, there were not many working, uh, traffic lights And because of electricity or, or the grid or whatever. And so that's why you really needed traffic officers at that time.

Uh, right. But every year I, I, I went back, and the last time I worked with Pico Iyer, who's an amazing writer for Vanity Fair. We did a thing about the movie industry because Kim Jong Il loved-

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm ...

Mark Edward Harris: movies. And I mean, he would kidnap, uh, you know, a director and an actress to be in his film. Yeah. That's actually a true story.

Paris Chong: Wow.

Mark Edward Harris: Um...

Paris Chong: That wouldn't be so fun

Mark Edward Harris: if you Yeah, that's probably not the way to do it. But they made some good films during that time. That's a bad day for some actors. Uh, no, there's a whole story about that. And then they, they were so trusted after years of living in North Korea, that, that they were sent to Aus- Austria to make some deals, and they ran to an embassy to escape, and there was a big chase around Vienna.

It's an amazing story.

Paris Chong: Wow.

Mark Edward Harris: And they got out.

Paris Chong: So, so let's talk a little bit about the Olympics. Yeah. That's pretty impressive. I love the photos you were taking, by the way. Thank you. So you know, you're coming back to Leica during the Leica- I'm really excited about that. Yeah ... through the Olympic, yeah, through the, b- I'm doing a show at Leica for, uh, Leica, Leica LA '28, which will be all of my artists.

It's a group show with all the Leica artists that have shot the Olymp- Olympics, current or vintage.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Uh, we also have one Olympian, Alex Ciutacui, who was the m- a medal-

Mark Edward Harris: It, it's great to be on, in,

Paris Chong: on

Mark Edward Harris: the same walls as,

Paris Chong: as

Mark Edward Harris: Alex.

Paris Chong: Yeah Yeah. So yeah, so Alex is gonna be one of the, um, artists in the show, and he's been out doing his project.

And, uh, as you know, he won the bronze with his sister Mai, Maia. Yeah. And he's just adorable. And I think Anthony Friedkin has some vintage, um, uh, Olympics photos and some others, and I'm talking to some others throughout the world. So- Cool, yeah. No, that's- I'm excited for that ... thank you And I love the photos you posted while you were there.

They were stunning.

Mark Edward Harris: Thank you. And I've been shooting since, um, the Olympics since 2021, which was when the 2020 Tokyo Olympics-

Paris Chong: Yeah ...

Mark Edward Harris: happened. And amazingly enough, I won, um, Sports Photographer of the Year in the venues category because of the photo I did of the fireworks in an empty stadium.

Paris Chong: Oh.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, because it was during COVID.

And, and that actually tied in because I wanted to go there. That is sad. And I, I did it for Newsweek. Um, and it tied in because of my love of Japan and always doing J- Japanese stories and speaking- Yeah ... Japanese for them. I know

Paris Chong: that, that, the whole, everything that happened, it, it, it, it's hard to believe the whole CO- COVID thing actually happened.

It is bizarre. Like, doesn't it seem like a b- bad dream now? When you think about it, I,

Mark Edward Harris: I- It does, and I couldn't travel all of a sudden. So what I did is I did a whole series called Naked Hollywood, where I would go every day to keep my sanity, and I would walk the streets of Hollywood. That's cool. And not like what, you know, some people walk for different reasons- Mm-hmm

and stuff. If I could have made money that way, maybe I would have too. Yeah. But, but instead, I, I, I walked it and I photographed it because, and the reason I call it Naked Hollywood is because it, it, it was Hollywood stripped of, uh, tourists.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: And just to see who was left there, which is not a pretty sight at all.

But I- It

Paris Chong: was a home, probably a home, the homeless ...

Mark Edward Harris: homeless drug addicts- Oy ... and all. And I really got, I think, some pretty interesting photos that I think will grow w- with interest over the years. Because, you know-

Paris Chong: Yeah, I think I, I- You need

Mark Edward Harris: some hindsight,

Paris Chong: right? I, I think we still need space- Yes ... a- as a curator.

I don't... When people try to show me things from COVID or the, uh, Black Lives Matter protests- Oh, is that interesting ... I don't, I'm not ready to see that. Oh, that's great. I'm not r- Yeah. It took me this long to look at the World Trade Center. Do you know what I mean? Oh, boy, I know. Like, I couldn't look at that for many, many years.

Yeah, me too. And I, I've, this is the fir- last year with J. P. Lafontaine, it's the first time I showed any photos of the Twin Towers.

Mark Edward Harris: Right, because

Paris Chong: we got the

Mark Edward Harris: 25th- '

Paris Chong: Cause it was just too painful to look at ... anniversary coming up. Uh, and, uh, I'm not ready to look at, uh- Yeah ... I don't wanna see any pictures with masks, you know?

No. 'Cause I, I get... You know, I do a lot of portfolio reviews and I get shown so much artwork all the time. And when people sent me things with COVID and masks, I don't wanna see it. Yeah. I'm not ready. I don't wanna look. I'm he- I'm kind of still in the happy to forget that right now.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Um, I think in 20 years from now it's gonna be very interesting.

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, for sure. And it's, y- you need some space and

Paris Chong: time. Yeah. And the, and all the, uh, the Black Lives Matters protests-

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah ...

Paris Chong: are amazing photos.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: But I think that again needs to breathe. Yeah. And then in 20 years people will want to see that

Mark Edward Harris: again. Well, because then they bec- they become historic artifacts.

Paris Chong: Yeah, yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, and yeah, uh, and Lafontaine is an, a perfect example of that.

Paris Chong: Oh, he's just one of my- Yeah ... favorite photographers.

Mark Edward Harris: But somebody else who I think you have coming up, or is Phil Penman, right?

Paris Chong: Oh, I love him.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: I would have... I, I have to say, you know, I'm happy Phil Penman's coming. Yeah. And he'll be on the show.

I'm gonna make him come in here next year too. Good. But he- Yeah ... is someone, I don't know how he escaped me this long, 'cause I wanted to work with him many, many, many years ago. Yeah. And I don't know what took me so long. You actually helped facilitate me- Yes, yes, uh-huh ... reaching out to him again- Yeah ... from, uh, your information.

Yeah. So, um, so I'm happy. I'm putting him with Terry Laroux, who I absolutely adore.

Mark Edward Harris: When is that gonna

Paris Chong: be? That's gonna be in April, uh, next year, April. Oh, excellent. Mm-hmm. And you know it'll be like that. Doesn't it feel like it was just Christmas yesterday? Oh, yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, here's how- ... worlds collide even more.

I was, uh, at his Tokyo opening, uh- Oh ... at, at Leica.

Paris Chong: Okay.

Mark Edward Harris: Which cost me over 1,000 bucks because for some reason I, I, I went down sh- one of his friends who was there, a, a, a Leica guy in New York I think, or his brother, had these amazing sunglasses, and I'd been looking at sunglasses. Oh, dear.

Paris Chong: And you bought the glasses.

Mark Edward Harris: I bought the most expensive glasses. It was just down the block, and I was with friends. They said, "Oh, they look great on you." And they look great in a box 'cause that's the image that they- Do you still have them? I do have them.

Paris Chong: They're- Are they those meta glasses

Mark Edward Harris: that- These are the... Yeah, they're, they come in, like, these amazing boxes.

Oh. And there's like, it takes three boxes just to get there. That's okay. Well, I

Paris Chong: hope you get good use out of

Mark Edward Harris: them. They're, they're great. They're great. But what happened, here's how the worlds really collide, is, uh... So, uh, Phil photographed, uh, the World Trade Center. He was there. Mm-hmm. My friend that I was with, a Japanese friend, was working for Fuji Bank, and she was in the trade tower, and so she had to escape.

Uh, she wasn't in one of Phil's photos. But at, w- but we were talking, and so at, at the opening, and so I said to Phil, "Maybe you wanna meet Mika," you know, my ex... Well, I even hate to say ex- ex-wife. We j- we're all family forever. Yeah. But anyway, I said, uh, "You know, maybe you should meet her. She's a tea master."

And he goes, "Yeah, I'd love to." So, so she ends up, uh, being one of his favorite photos, which he just posted the other day. So if, if you go back and you see that. That's cool. And, and-

Paris Chong: Okay, I will ...

Mark Edward Harris: I, I don't know if I can say it now, but I think there's a book coming up, but, and it's gonna be- His book? ... featured, yeah, Mika's, shot of Mika.

Paris Chong: Oh, I think you could say that.

Mark Edward Harris: How's that for a small world?

Paris Chong: I think that the world is a peanut- Yeah ... I like to say. Um, it, it's amazing how, uh, you... It seems so big, but it really is a very tiny, tiny spot. It really is. Now, now, um, now I still wanna talk about the Olympics, so- Sure.

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, sorry.

Paris Chong: No, it's okay. Okay,

Mark Edward Harris: but I

Paris Chong: should say also- I just, because I'm obsessed with the Olympics and-

Mark Edward Harris: Right.

Well, because the, the, the... Uh, so I started in Tokyo, and then because of the success of that, uh, with Zuma Press, they asked me, uh, "Hey, why don't you do it for us? Come to Beijing."

Intro Song: Mm-hmm.

Mark Edward Harris: And I also did the Olympics and Paralympics. I did Paralympics in part because my father had severe polio- Oh ...

Intro Song: but

Mark Edward Harris: was a great athlete, and so I'm really attracted to that.

In fact, the... how things come around, again, as you said, as a peanut, my six-page feature on the Paralympics, because these were, uh, uh, Paralympians that were wounded, uh, and became eventually Paralympians- Mm-hmm ... because of acts of terrorism-

Paris Chong: Oi ...

Mark Edward Harris: against them. And so the, it ran in the 20th anniversary of 9/11-

Paris Chong: That's amazing

Mark Edward Harris: uh, issue of Newsweek. I remember

Paris Chong: that. Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: So, so that's how it's this bizarre world that, you know, things,

Paris Chong: you know, happen. Prince Harry does the Paralympics, right? Was Prince Harry there? He's like one of the ambassadors for the

Mark Edward Harris: You know, I, I never photographed him. I always think of ... Well, the Special Olympics I photographed as well, and that's the, you know, the Kennedy, the Shriver family.

Paris Chong: Oh, right.

Mark Edward Harris: Um, and, and I was brought over by the Shriver family to photograph. And Japan actually many years earlier-

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm ...

Mark Edward Harris: uh, in Nagano of the Special Olympics.

Paris Chong: That's the same thing, is he ... It took this long for me to look at any of the JFK Jr. stuff. Oh, yeah. 'Cause now they came out with the love story. By the way, loved it.

Yeah. I haven't seen that.

Mark Edward Harris: Do you

Paris Chong: watch any of those kind of shows?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, I love documentaries.

Paris Chong: I loved that. I, I,

Mark Edward Harris: like- And if it sticks close to the truth, then

Paris Chong: I would like to see it ... it was real- I think it seemed truth- truthful except Daryl Hannah had a heart attack about stuff that was brought up. But I thought- Yeah

it was really good, but it was very sad. A lot of, uh, details came out, um, that you didn't hear about at the time, thank God. But yeah, I think- Well, that

Mark Edward Harris: flight never should have happened ...

Paris Chong: I mean, he was exhausted. His foot, he had a broken foot. I think-

Mark Edward Harris: Well, flying at night over

Paris Chong: dark water ... yeah, no, the whole ... I think it sounds like

It, it's just a tragedy. But, um- It is ... but again, when it happened I, I, I ... And it wasn't like I was this huge JFK Jr. fan, but I always thought he was gorgeous. Yeah. But I just thought it was so sad and tragic, she's beautiful. Yeah. And so with all that new resurgence of their love story on TV, it kind of made me follow the story a little bit more.

But again, it took me that long to listen to it, 'cause when things- Yeah ... are so fresh like COVID and, and- Yeah ... what we were talking about, you have to let it breathe. So.

Mark Edward Harris: But the great thing about the Olympics is- Yeah ... is, is, uh, because we talk about all the-

Paris Chong: Yeah ...

Mark Edward Harris: you know, negative th- side, which, which unfortunately now we're going through a period of time where there's just way too much of that.

But the Olympics are such a positive thing. They

Paris Chong: really are. They always make me cry. Like, whenever I- Yeah ... see the s- the opening ceremony and the whole-

Mark Edward Harris: Oh,

Paris Chong: yeah ... I always cry.

Mark Edward Harris: It's just so beautiful. Well, it's, it's just, but because it's- It's like the world united ... we're coming together.

Paris Chong: Yeah, in a

Mark Edward Harris: positive way for a change

a- and, and we can be that way. I- And, and so like Alina Zagitova came, came out as the, the mega star-

Paris Chong: Yeah ...

Mark Edward Harris: for the US, and, and my posts on her. And then that led to shooting, um, Stars on Ice-

Paris Chong: Okay ...

Mark Edward Harris: and focusing on her, and so one thing leads to another. The, the key thing for photographers going out, I know you talk to photographers like, "What should I do," you know, all the time, i- is don't wait for the phone to ring, something I learned from Eve Arnold many years ago.

Mm-hmm. 'Cause as you know, and maybe the first time we really started working together a lot, uh, was when I started doing ... Well, for many years I've been doing Q&As with photographers and doing their portraits. That's why, you know- Yeah ... worked closely with Selgado and everybody else. And I think you and I, uh, you had a show of, uh, Ralph Gibson- Mm-hmm

and so I did a feature on him for Black and White-

Paris Chong: That's right ...

Mark Edward Harris: Magazine. But, but I'm always learning. For some reason

Paris Chong: that's what, that's what I'm thinking, Black and White Magazine- Yeah ... was your magazine.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. No, no, but I-

Paris Chong: I don't know why I

Mark Edward Harris: thought that ... well, I'm gonna ... Contributing editor for- I don't know

a lot of magazines. But what happens is-

Paris Chong: That's cool ...

Mark Edward Harris: if you look at all these photographers, and I've learned so much, they're my teachers in a way. Yeah. They don't wait around for the phone to ring. Selgado, you know, of course Kathy Ryan would call and say, "Hey, let's, let's get you to Iraq. It's the war." He goes, "No, no."

Let's see what happens, and, and I wanna track down afterwards, I wanna go to Kuwait, you know, because of these fires starting, and focus on that.

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm.

Mark Edward Harris: He's not a guy who's, you know, you know, you know, a Jim Nachtwey who's running after, like, here's an action shot of people- Yeah ... shooting at each other. He wants to get into...

And of course, Jim is an amazing photographer.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: Or Don McCullin, who I've had obviously the good fortune of working with them both as well. So, uh, more w- with Don, I should say. Actually, I did a Q&A with him for Vanity Fair.

Paris Chong: Don?

Mark Edward Harris: Don McCullin. Amazing photographer. Okay. Who's

Paris Chong: your, who's your idol, uh, uh, ph- photography idol?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, still W. Eugene Smith, I would have to say. Yeah. The way he, he, uh, really developed bodies of work. But then there's people like Gordon Smith, uh, Gordon Smith, combining the two. Well, if, if, if Gordon Parks and, and W. Eugene Smith got married- And Gordon Smith ... then it would be Gordon Smith. Yeah. Or it could be, uh, W.

Eugene- And then they'd be

Paris Chong: fluid, and they'd fit in the times today ...

Mark Edward Harris: of course. See, then it works perfectly.

Paris Chong: Yeah. No, so we should have- But, but both those guys ... Alex Shibutani do your portrait.

Mark Edward Harris: I would love that.

Paris Chong: Let's set that up. Yeah. You know, he's gonna do your portrait. I

Mark Edward Harris: would love that. Yeah. And then I'd love to do his, of course.

Paris Chong: Of, uh, of course. You know- Yeah ... it, so Alex was, he did a show. He's awesome. And hi- he, his show was, uh, about, uh, Japan. Yeah. But I said, "You know, Alex, you have so much, uh, access to all these Olympians." Yes. "Go and use your Leica and take portraits- 100%. 100% ... of these people." Yes. And not necessarily even in their, you know, ice skating outfits or their, uh-

Intro Song: Or maybe

Mark Edward Harris: even-

Paris Chong: Just portraits of them even better

yeah, that's even better And so he d- he actually took my advice- Excellent ... and was doing that at the Paris Olympics. Th- So I'm excited to see the photos.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah, because, because y- you have to think about what advantage do I have over other people? Well-

Paris Chong: Yeah ...

Mark Edward Harris: you know, I speak Japanese fairly, you know, decently, and so I, I would never- You got me there

be able to do the Japanese bat thing, right? Yeah. No way. Uh, Mandarin, I can speak some Mandarin. That's good. Yeah. Um, Korean at the time. I still can read and write Korean, but I'm forgetting the words. But in other words, anything that you have that can give you access. Yes. If you're a musician so you understand it, then you can s- you can speak music.

Mm-hmm. And so, like, somebody like, um, Herman Leonard.

Intro Song: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: Y- you know, is, or, or, uh, William Claxton.

Paris Chong: Oh.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, I don't know if they played, but they definitely understood music- Mm-hmm ... and musicians related to them. In other words, find something

Paris Chong: that you can relate to. I use disco to get me into everything. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I'm like, "Am I, am with disco?"

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. Like. Well, I'm not dis- I'm not allowed to say how good you look, but that probably doesn't hurt- ... either, right?

Paris Chong: No, I think I d- w- I, I, I actually love music.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: And I try to stay in my lane, you know? But- Yeah ... but I think that's amazing that you speak all these languages.

It's, uh, terribly embarrassing that I don't speak any other

Mark Edward Harris: languages. Well, I'm not fluent in anything, even English, but, uh- Yeah ... I just struggle. But, uh, but speaking of, of Paris, you know, I was in Paris as, as well. I didn't get a chance to run into Alex, but, um- You know, each place you have to think about, "What can I photograph-

Intro Song: Yeah

Mark Edward Harris: that, that is a great establishing shot?" And so this goes into the photo essay. In other words, no matter ... And I'm a little unusual where I shoot, you know, oranguta- or photograph orangutans. Let's

Paris Chong: see the orangutan. Okay. The orangutan's so cute.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. So, so

Paris Chong: there- And your snow monkey was gore. We sold your snow monkey, right?

Yes,

Mark Edward Harris: we did. We,

Paris Chong: it, you- Super big print ... you know, I guess l- people love snow monkeys. This, look at this photo.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: It's a classic.

Mark Edward Harris: Like, it's not a self-portrait, though some people

Paris Chong: accused of that. No, no. It doesn't look like you. Thank you. And we know that. Um, uh, but this is a nice book, too. But y- yeah, the snow monkey sold, and so did Nick Ut's snow monkey.

Mark Edward Harris: Yes. People love the

Paris Chong: snow monkeys. I was like, "Wow, okay. Let's put the snow monkey in because someone's gonna buy that." Yeah. Now, you were, uh, very helpful when I did a show with Nick Ut because- Yeah ... uh, it was hard to get a lot of the, um, work pri- you helped me out a lot with that show. Yeah. Um, because we had to look for all the negatives through AP, and this and that and the other.

And we, we, we don't have to talk about it, but there- Yeah ... there's a lot going on with our friend Nick Ut, as you've probably all heard.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, that's, that's, that's for sure.

Paris Chong: Yeah, but it looks like things are gonna be okay. Um-

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah ...

Paris Chong: but I-

Mark Edward Harris: I hope so.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: I hope so. Uh, well, so this, this shot that you showed, N- this was done in Borneo at the Borneo- This is me.

Yeah, this is you. On a good

Paris Chong: day.

Mark Edward Harris: What great hair. Well,

Paris Chong: that's when I straighten my hair. That's

Mark Edward Harris: right.

Paris Chong: This is me when I straighten my hair.

Mark Edward Harris: That's right. And this is the Borneo Orangutan- I blow-dried this day ... Survival Foundation. This is, so- So there we go. Okay. There you go I do remember one place. Okay. Who was it?

Thank you. Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation. That's incredible. Very worthy cause. W- and, and so this orangutan was at a halfway house, in a sense. Oh my God. They, they put him on an island. There's a halfway

Paris Chong: house? Was it drinking too much?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, it, it, I, I- This

Paris Chong: monkey had

Mark Edward Harris: a drinking problem? I, I, I wouldn't wanna talk about

Well, they're not monkeys. I got ... They're, they're, they're- I mean,

Paris Chong: orangutan, orangutan.

Mark Edward Harris: Y- what, what, what- Sorry. Forgive

Paris Chong: me.

Mark Edward Harris: Well, no, because people say- I'm so politically correct ... no, no, no, no, no, no. People say that all the time because there, there, there's five great apes.

Paris Chong: Okay.

Mark Edward Harris: That, the, uh, humans, orangutans, gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees.

And so a lot of people think, "Oh-" Monkeys ... "It's a monkey category." But, but yeah. They're not. In fact, a curator I was working with in Japan wanted to include my Japanese macaque shot, uh, in the bath with the orangutan stories. Yeah, those are orphaned orangutans Okay, so

Paris Chong: why is this lady wearing a mask? It wasn't COVID.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, it actually was during COVID- It was COVID? ... but it wasn't because of COVID, it's just because- Do

Paris Chong: you understand- ... we have to be so careful ... what I mean about the mask thing, though? 100%. Like, that was so horrible to have to wear those masks for-

Mark Edward Harris: Oh, yeah ...

Paris Chong: I don't like seeing them. They make me- No ... even when I see people wearing them now, I'm like, "Oh, you have COVID."

Mark Edward Harris: But we have 96.4% the same DNA, and that's close enough from my non-medical

Paris Chong: idea- So we're actually the sixth

Mark Edward Harris: type of monkey ... that, that we could give disease, diseases to each other. Oh, we can? Yeah.

Paris Chong: Oh.

Mark Edward Harris: A- and so, so, uh-

Paris Chong: But the- you can though also get trans- like, there's things disco can give me, they, also. It's not just-

Mark Edward Harris: Really?

Paris Chong: Yeah I didn't know

Mark Edward Harris: that.

Paris Chong: Some, there's some dog, contagious stuff from animals that dogs... Yeah, like they say you could get certain things from-

Mark Edward Harris: Wow, I didn't know that.

Paris Chong: Oh, who's this person?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, th- this is in, um, in Florida at a rescue center, because what happens is a lot of people buy- Oh, I could make that

yeah, uh, orangutans illegally 'cause they're so cute when they're young.

Paris Chong: They

Mark Edward Harris: are cute But then they grow super big, and then people don't know what to do with them, so they stick them in cages- Oh, God, I hate that story ... in their garages or- What? It's just the bad stuff. And so fortunately, there are rescue places like this place in Florida.

Um-

Paris Chong: So was it this, is it just the same to take a picture of an orangutan as it is to take a picture of a human? Or are they better t- s- do they

Mark Edward Harris: listen better? Well, better- Better be- ... better to photograph... That's interesting, great question. They're, it's better to photograph an orangutan than a human kid.

Paris Chong: Oh, well.

Mark Edward Harris: It's easier to photograph an adult human- Human kids ... but I'd rather photograph an orangutan. And, and they- Human

Paris Chong: kids

Mark Edward Harris: are orangutans ... they will take a look for a split second. Yeah. Well, that's g- I think they're monkeys actually. I could say that as I'm a parent. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're like little monkeys

that's what they look... They just go nuts. They're

Paris Chong: naughty.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah. Though I guess once again, we say they go ape, which- Yeah ... which was back in our-

Paris Chong: True,

Mark Edward Harris: true ...

Paris Chong: very ape thing. This is a good book. Thank you. So now where can we g- we, I have a couple of these- You, you, I- ... I like, but not many.

Mark Edward Harris: I have- No, I, I think you're, you might be sold out.

We, we need to get you some. I think we did sell them out. Yeah, we need to get you some

Paris Chong: more.

Mark Edward Harris: I did

Paris Chong: have one and it's gone.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah, we need to do that.

Paris Chong: Well, well, you're so talented and so are you making any m- more books n- soon?

Mark Edward Harris: I do have m- a, a, a- This is cute ... retrospect. See, look at that. A- and one is sort of protecting- Are they brother and

Paris Chong: sister, or?

Mark Edward Harris: No, no, friends.

Paris Chong: They're best

Mark Edward Harris: friends? Friends. They're very, very good friends. Aw. This is in Singapore. And there's only two places on earth where y- where you can actually find orangutans in the wild. This is a

Paris Chong: great gift for your best friend

Mark Edward Harris: That's a good point, actually ...

Paris Chong: if you need a good present for your, I'm think- 'cause I would love to give this to my best friend.

She would love it.

Mark Edward Harris: That's a great idea.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: You're right. This

Paris Chong: is- It is

Mark Edward Harris: a

Paris Chong: good gift

Mark Edward Harris: for- ... you

Paris Chong: know- ... for your best friend ...

Mark Edward Harris: hanging on together forever.

Paris Chong: So we can order these prints if you'd like through Leica Gallery.

Mark Edward Harris: That's true.

Paris Chong: So I'm excited you're coming back to Leica, so that'll be the summer of 2028, so it's June 2020- June 2028 is the Olympics in Ca- in Los Angeles.

Mark Edward Harris: What it is, is it July or June?

Paris Chong: July. Yeah,

Mark Edward Harris: I think it's-

Paris Chong: June. I thought it was starting in

Mark Edward Harris: June. Does, does it start late June? Yeah, 'cause typically it's- I know. I have it written down somewhere ... it's, it's June, July. In fact, what's amazing is, is, um, one of my favorite, uh, photographers, David Burnett-

Paris Chong: Oh, I love David

Mark Edward Harris: uh, oh, yeah, David, and, and we, we've traveled all over the world together, and so we were, uh, at midnight having noodles in Tokyo. I just said, "Wow, this is like th- the pace of this," because what happens is you shoot and then you edit. And so y- we took a break and, and, and had noodles. A- and he says, um, and so we were just talking about that, and this was mid-July.

He says, "Well, you know, you can sleep in September." And that's really the way it is, especially if you c- you do the Paralympics because then you're going from one to another. But it's really sleep deprivation until- I like

Paris Chong: to say you can sleep when you're dead.

Mark Edward Harris: Yes, you can. Yes, for sure. You

Paris Chong: know? Like, try to just do everything.

I've, I- I, 100% ... I need my rest too, but-

Mark Edward Harris: You live that way. You live that way ... but I,

Paris Chong: like, you know, you're gonna just do what you can.

Mark Edward Harris: No, you're only around once, and, and I, I do feel the sands of time, I- I'm acutely aware of the, the sands of time filling up the

Paris Chong: bottom part. It's

Mark Edward Harris: a horrible thing. It's a horrible thing.

But unless... But you can't slow down time, but you can use it, and I, I think both of us use it really well.

Paris Chong: Yeah, no, 'cause I start, it start, I'm like to the age where it starts, when I start thinking about why would I wanna buy any more clothes? Like, who... My son's not gonna want all these clo- I know it sounds morbid, but you're like- Yeah

why, I don't need any more things. Yeah. I have too many things. Yeah, yeah. I don't want, I wanna get rid of things, and I wanna spend more of my money and my time on seeing new things and experiences. Like s- like I stopped giving friends gifts for, um, their birthday. For their birthday I take them out so that we have to spend time together.

Mark Edward Harris: That's

Paris Chong: a great idea. You know? Instead of, "Here's more crap you don't need-" Yeah, yeah, yeah ... or you're probably gonna re-gift or- Yeah ... not need or- Yeah ... don't like, and it, and which, which isn't true 'cause I'm a amazing gift giver- Yeah ... and I know exactly everybody's taste. But I, why more stuff? I try to say, you know, "For your birthday I'm taking you wherever you wanna go eat for lunch or dinner, and we s- have to spend the day together, or go to the Korean spa or..."

You know, time. Yeah, I, I am

Mark Edward Harris: trying- I'm giving time ... to, you know, just like with wine, you know, with, with grapes, it, the more you cull, the better tasting wine. And so I'm trying to do that with my books-

Paris Chong: Mm-hmm ...

Mark Edward Harris: and my art collection, and it's not easy, right? Yeah. But, but, but I feel the same way exactly. So instead of bringing in at the end- But you could still

Paris Chong: give me wine if you want.

You know how much I love wine. Oh,

Mark Edward Harris: 100%. We, we need to do that. We need to do wine. I do get wine, so- I, I, I agree with you completely ...

Paris Chong: but, but wine is very good. We have some wine here, but-

Mark Edward Harris: We have to

Paris Chong: do that. Yeah, we have to have some wine soon. Let's do it. Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: Yeah.

Paris Chong: Let's do that.

Mark Edward Harris: We won't do it now at this time

Paris Chong: of day.

No, no, day, no, even though n- my new, I, uh, there's nothing wrong with day drinking, but I have so much work to do still after this. I actually have to work after this. Yeah. So I just wanted to say thank you so much for being here. Um, and Mark's coming back in July, or June or July- Yeah ... and during the Olympics to LICA Gallery, Los Angeles.

And where can we see your work?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, magazines all over the world. I just, it, it- And your website or is there like a- Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah. That's okay That's the easiest way because then I- Yeah ... eventually post where stuff is going to. Where can we stalk you? So, so Mark- Your address? Yeah, Mark Edward Harris Photo.

Home? Well, hopefully it's gonna be in Japan. Home address? I'm gonna have a home address in Japan fairly soon. That, that's kind of the 2026 goal. But, um, so my Instagram is Mark Edward Harris Photo.

Paris Chong: Okay.

Mark Edward Harris: Uh, website is just markedwardharris.com, which also links to that. And, and, um, just pretty much every month there's features out in, in magazines and all, and if they're interested in, in prints, uh, they can just contact you.

You should be very proud of yourself. W- were

Paris Chong: your parents really proud of you?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, I, I hate to think in those terms be- because, because, uh, w- with, with parents being proud, I never tried- Oh, really? ... to make anybody proud because- Oh ... th- there's a yin and yang to everything, or in-yo in Japanese. I guess I should use Japanese, right?

Because if, if you wanna make people proud, then you can also be susceptible to people feeling disappointed.

Paris Chong: Oh. Isn't

Mark Edward Harris: that an interesting thing? And so, and so they

Paris Chong: were. I, yeah, that sounds very A- that sounds very Asian. Yeah. But I w- my parents didn't really get to see everything I did. Yeah. See, that's what my parents did.

So I would have

Mark Edward Harris: loved to

Paris Chong: have

Mark Edward Harris: them- And my dad read an article in Barron's Magazine about me, and, uh, I told him what a big infl- in the, in the... And I never used to talk about him having polio- Mm ... or anything, but, but in the... And this was, uh, much later years. But in Barron's I did talk about his influence on me, about how he had polio and he never really...

He just, he j- even though he had a curved spine and just o- one dangling arm, you would never know that because he was a great sportsman with one hand. He did everything. He didn't think of himself that way. And that's why I think I had, like, I enjoyed, you know, speaking and getting to know Gordon Parks as well.

He, you know, obviously African American.

Paris Chong: Lucky you.

Mark Edward Harris: But he grew up, you know, the way he grew up with all the racism, but he just rose above it. And he said that came from his mom, and he says, "I don't know how she Uh, learned this because, uh, but, and so- I know he's

Paris Chong: one of my favorite photographers

Mark Edward Harris: for sure

yeah, you just ri- rise above stuff He makes beautiful work. Yeah, it's just, you just rise above things. Mm-hmm. You know, we're all handed some things. Where,

Paris Chong: where did you meet him?

Mark Edward Harris: Well, first I met him, uh, at his, uh, uh, apartment, uh, at, across from the UN, and then, uh, we did an interview, and then he's in my book, Faces of the 20th Century: Master Photographers and My Work- Mm

along with Helmut Newton and-

Paris Chong: Yeah ... Salgado,

Mark Edward Harris: Alfred Eisenstaedt, uh, Peter Lindbergh. I need that book. That's... Oh, you don't know that? I, I need- No, I need it ... to get you a copy of that book. Yeah, I want that, that one. Oh, no, it's 20 amazing photographers that have put a visual face on the 20th century, and it's in English, German, and, and French, and so that was really what...

And that was 1998, so that's what put me into the, the book world.

Paris Chong: Yeah.

Mark Edward Harris: And so that's how everything has sort of come together. But I, I should say just for those younger photographers, I was really lost starting out, and it took a while for me to find my way, but the key thing was to keep going forward.

Paris Chong: That's- That's good advice ...

Mark Edward Harris: yeah.

Paris Chong: We like good advice here. Do you have any bad advice?

Mark Edward Harris: I do, but I'll tell you after.

Paris Chong: Over some wine.

Mark Edward Harris: After the ca- Over some wine and when the cameras are off.

Paris Chong: Well, this makes me so happy- It does, yeah ... to have you here, and, uh, you are the first guest on season three. Thank

Mark Edward Harris: you.

Paris Chong: Congratulations, by the way. Yeah, thank you so much. Fantastic episodes. And, and if, and, and thank you for everybody who likes the show. Please keep listening, liking, sharing. It really matters to me, um, 'cause I don't know if you know this, but putting on podcasts is a lot of work. My team, I wouldn't know what to do without you, Brandon Don Don Heath.

He is the master editor and just an amazing guy, and he comes in here and makes everybody look good show after show, 'cause usually we're doing all kinds of weird stuff behind your backs.

Mark Edward Harris: Ha.

Paris Chong: And thank you Disco for being a good boy. See you at the next show. I might be wearing the same outfit.

Intro Song: Show, show. It's the Paris Young show. It's the Paris Young show, show, show

‍

Related Show Clips

Show Clips Are In Progress.

Related Reels & Shorts

Clips 90 Seconds or less are coming soon.

Related TikToks

Mark Edward Harris, Documenting The World With Photos and Beautiful Books

Episode Timestamps

Links to Mark Edward Harris

Show Clips Are In Progress.

Clips 90 Seconds or less are coming soon.

TikTok Clips in progress, Stay Tuned.

Information

Mark Edward Harris, Documenting The World With Photos and Beautiful Books

Episode Timestamps

Links to Mark Edward Harris

Show Clips Are In Progress.

Clips 90 Seconds or less are coming soon.

TikTok Clips in progress, Stay Tuned.

Never miss an episode

Information